Updating Open Expenditures

All Financial Apps are powered by datasets located on an Open Data Portal or Open Performance site. Below we've outlined a general guideline for updating your Open Expenditures datasets.

1. Ensure you have the proper permissions to update Open Expenditures data

In order to update the datasets, you need to have a Socrata Account with a site role permission of Publisher or Admin, or be the owner or contributor of that dataset. Anyone can view and download the datasets that power your app.

2. Locate your Open Expenditures dataset

To identify the location of your datasets, administrators can find the domain under the Dataset Settings of the admin panel. Clicking the "View this dataset" will direct you to the dataset.

Note: Most site administrators will have two datasets powering the app - Ledger Dataset and the Vendors List

3. Prepare your data before updating or uploading

Prior to importing datasets for the new fiscal year, you should confirm that each dataset meets our schema, otherwise you will run into problems. The dataset schema structures the data in a way that our application knows where to look for that information. If your dataset does not match our schema you may find that figures or charts may show empty or not render correctly.

If you have a Vendors List dataset, don't forget to update this one too!

Additionally, our platform accepts many different file formats, but we strongly encourage using .csv format. If you have trouble preparing your data to meet our schema, please feel free to contact our support team at support@socrata.com.

4. Importing your dataset

There are several methods you could use for updating your Open Expenditures Data. The most common way to update your data is to do a manual import.

If your files are large or if you want to automate this update process, you can use Datasync, FME, or Pentaho Kettle.

Note: If you are adding a new Fiscal Year Expenditures to your dataset, you should append the new year’s rows to your existing dataset. If doing a manual data update, use the Append and Replace wizard to add the new data.

Your app should reflect the new data immediately once you have successfully updated your dataset and updated the current fiscal year in the Admin Panel. We also recommend clearing your browser cache or doing a hard refresh to make sure you are seeing the updated application.